title: Should bilingual children learn reading in two languages at the same time or in sequence?
abstract: Is it best to learn reading in two languages simultaneously or sequentially? We observed 2ndand 3rdgrade children in two-waydual-language learning contexts: (i) 50:50 or Simultaneous dual-language (two languages within same developmental period) and (ii) 90:10 or Sequential dual-language (one language, followed gradually by the other). They were compared to matched monolingual English-only children in single-language English schools. Bilinguals (home language was Spanish only, English-only, or Spanish and English in dual-language schools), were tested in both languages, and monolingual children were tested in English using standardized reading and language tasks. Bilinguals in 50:50 programs performed better than bilinguals in 90:10 programs on English Irregular Words and Passage Comprehension tasks, suggesting language and reading facilitation for underlying grammatical class and linguistic structure analyses. By contrast, bilinguals in 90:10 programs performed better than bilinguals in the 50:50 programs on English Phonological Awareness and Reading Decoding tasks, suggesting language and reading facilitation for surfacephonological regularityanalysis. Notably, children from English-only homes in dual-language learning contexts performed equally well, or better than, children from monolingual English-only homes in single-language learning contexts. Overall, the findings provide tantalizing evidence that dual-language learning during the same developmental period may providebilingual reading advantages.
authors.affiliation: Department of Defense, Washington, D.C. U.S.A.
authors.forename: Melody S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Berens
authors.forename: Ioulia
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kovelman
authors.forename: Laura-Ann
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Petitto
keywords: Bilingual Advantage; Bilingual Reading Advantage; Developmental Bilingual Education; Dual-Language Programs; Language Learning; Two-way Programs